


Final Measure

by AikoIsari



Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Memory Loss, Mind Control
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-28
Updated: 2016-06-22
Packaged: 2018-03-26 03:12:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 9,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3834844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AikoIsari/pseuds/AikoIsari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He can't do this. He's scared. He has to do it anyway</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

0.

Hikari often drops by when his mother isn't home. He knows he should go back. He knows he needs to. It's his destiny, and all of that. He chose this. His Crest tells him what he should be doing, even though he doesn't have it anymore.

He can't though. He tries, makes it to school, makes it to the computer lab even. But his Digivice beeps and he runs away, heading for groceries or homework or things that just aren't the Digital World.

He's not sure why he's running, not exactly. He knows who is on the other side of that portal. His heart thuds every second to remind him.

Hikari never tells him to come back, or asks him to, or anything. She just tells him what happened. Daisuke-kun is still struggling with himself. Miyako-san is keeping Iori-kun with her because they can't both run off into the Digital World. The others are analyzing, thinking, contacting help even if no one will arrive. Her voice doesn't waver. It's like that strange, gray ocean never happened.

She goes to the Digital World and speaks to  _him_  every day. She is rarely harmed in the process.

"Hikari-chan..."

"It's going to work out," she says, as peacefully as the past, like when they were in Mugendramon's city and they were facing Warumonzaemon. It is that same peace that made him think miracles can happen, if they really try.

"I can't." The words are more numb repetition in his mouth than anything now.

"I know."

She leaves, and he sits in his room, staring at the math homework he's not going to do. He looks at the block set he wanted to build with, to make his dear friend his own personal castle.

He's such a hypocrite. He knows it. His room is so silent, so  _empty_ , and the piece that fills the hole is on the other side of the internet and his enemy.

 _Maybe it's payback for PicoDevimon,_ Takeru thinks, and a shrill laugh lets itself loose from his chest. It's heavy and he's tired, so tired. The effort of the noise makes him want to sleep.

The messages go ignored on the D-Terminal. All but one, and that's only because he deletes it with more force than necessary.

Damn it Ken. It's none of your business.

But it's his business, because it's all his fault.


	2. Chapter 2

" _Your partner's going to herald a grand new age, just like this one!"_ The Kaiser sounds so happy, so triumphant. There is so much screaming. His partner is the loudest and most shrill of them. The screaming is tears, his Patamon is howling his name until his voice is gone and all that remains is the sweetest of laughter. Then there is no more Patamon.

The angel feathers cover one half of his back, wings fluttering, smile gleaming. If you just see that, that and the majestic face, his friend is beautiful. Then he sees the rest, black wings reminding him of the screeching, howling cries of Vamdemon's bloodsuckers, broad, muscular shoulders with nails that must be poisoned. One side of the face is scarred, and the once kind blue eyes are somewhere close to ice.

The Kaiser isn't laughing. Even Airdramon has stopped roaring.

The man smiles, and the Evil Spiral sinks into his neck and fades. He turns on the Kaiser, so peaceful, and sinks into a kneeling stance. For a moment, it looks like he will pledge fealty to the overgrown idiot with the wrong kind of hair gel, and the boy smirks in anticipation.

Then Ken is punched clear across the desert, and it's not very comedic. The demon advances and Airdramon moves between them.

The man, monster, sighs. "Fine," he says. "You're first."

Takeru wants to move forward, to scream at his partner to stop, but he can't. He's stuck.

Taichi shouts but that's not enough, of course not. The serpentine dragon is lifted with a single hand. It would have been a finger if the demon could manage it. They all know that somehow. Then he's tossed, and in some absurd moment, Takeru thinks he'll crush the Kaiser with Airdramon's girth. But the dragon sails and hits a cliff. The Evil Spiral breaks and his body shrinks all the way to to a Botamon.

"Cover me," Taichi shouts, and it's snapped back to the old days where death was a  _real_ thing, when it hasn't been until now. For some reason he finds himself in motion, covering Taichi directly while his brother and Garurumon run for what was once an innocent creature.

The demon laughs and pulls back his fist.

In the ensuing violence, they retreat. For reasons that Takeru doesn't really understand, the Kaiser is taken back with them.


	3. Chapter 3

The new kids are furious, and they shout at Yamato and Taichi both. Hikari doesn't say anything at all. She's watching the Kaiser, not with wariness. There's a strange, dull sheen to her eyes.

Takeru can't care. His Patamon is left behind, a smiling maniac. What is he supposed to do now?

Have hope, obviously. Whatever that means.

The Kaiser sleeps on, oblivious. Without the regalia, ugly as it is, Ichijouji Ken looks shrunken, weak. The Wormmon is even smaller. He had followed them somehow, and was curled protectively on Ken's stomach. Iori shoots him anxious looks, like he's afraid the caterpillar will do something. Takeru wants to tell him that he won't, because the Kaiser is all the Digimon ever cares about. He is always in his shadow. The Chosen Digimon care about their partners more than the world, at least they should.

Takeru stares at the Kaiser's sleeping face and is almost overcome with the urge to punch it. If it weren't for him, Patamon wouldn't be like this.

But then the boy stirs, and the urge is gone. The whole room goes silent.

The Kaiser opens his eyes and looks befuddled. It's not an agitated look either, but it is raw and afraid. He expects something, but what is that something?

"Ichijouji Ken?" Daisuke's voice is quiet.

Ken licks his lips. "Yes?" He shifts himself to look at Daisuke. "Who are you?"

"Ken-chan!"

Wormmon's voice is nearly a shriek that cuts them all off and he hugs his partner with all of his pods. Ken's confusion fades and he pulls his partner to him. It's a kindhearted reflex, one that doesn't suit the dictator monster they all know.

The surreality of it all causes Takeru to sink back into his chair.


	4. Chapter 4

"Let me talk to him."

Hikari's voice is patient. She isn't anywhere close to disturbed or upset and Takeru wants to imagine she's been possessed again. That would be easier than believing she's lost her mind and wants to be  _nice_  to the Kaiser. Not that Takeru had hoped the kid would stay behind and die. That… that would never, in any way, shape, or form, be okay.

But it still isn't okay to see him sitting on Taichi's couch, puzzled and young and obviously, rather intimidated. Wormmon seems somewhere in shock and wariness and has settled for clinging to Ken's grey-clothed not to be when Miyako starts shouting at you like you kicked her Poromon. This is the  _Digimon Kaiser_ , he who tortured an unknown amount of Digimon and laughed.

Taichi is thinking it over, and Takeru wonders why he isn't just shouting  _no_ , because she could get hurt. He takes a deep breath, then another. He almost chokes when Taichi says "okay."

"Why?" Yamato doesn't sound accusing and it's probably the only reason Iori hasn't jumped in. Iori-kun, of all people. But Iori-kun is a person about justice. This doesn't feel right. Can you extract justice on someone who may not know what they did?

The problem is that Ken probably has no idea about right or wrong right now.

Hikari ignores Yamato, steps clipped, and goes back into the other room. Takeru watches through the doorway as she sits down. He wonders what she sees. The look on Ken's face is frightened but guileless. He keeps reaching for his neck, and when she asks to see, he moves like these limbs aren't comfortable for him, as though they're too big. Her face doesn't change the whole time, not from the smile.

They are speaking too quietly to be heard and he wants to know what they're saying. But he's scared. With Ken like this, how are they going to know what happened to Patamon?

Yamato's hand is gentle on his shoulder and he looks at the solemn expression on his brother's face. Takeru manages a smile. "I'll be okay."

"When we get Patamon back," his brother says, and his chest hurts because it's true.


	5. 4

"I'm sorry," Ken repeats. He doesn't understand where the compulsion to just say that is coming from, but it's there. Their eyes say he should say it forever and even if he does, it still won't be enough.

Where is Osamu?

The girl next to him, her eyes are different. She does think he should be sorry, but she also thinks something else? Something that seems to grow the more he pets Wormmon. Wormmon cried before. But why?

A pain bursts in the back of his neck. He touches it like you would touch the dead body of a mosquito. His fingers tremble and expect blood that isn't there. He wants to cry, but he can't.

Osamu wouldn't cry because he was confused. He would try to figure it out. But he wasn't here. Where was he?

_We killed him._

Ken looks up. His arms tighten around Wormmon. The girl regards him with that concern again and he doesn't understand why. Since when was he someone people thought about?

_How can you forget this? You killed him, horrible little boy. You wanted his spot._

Ken shivers. The pain spikes.

The girl regards him with worry and shakes her head. "We'll find a way to make things right."

"What's wrong?" he asks and it dawns on her then. Her eyes light up like his mother's when Osamu does something right (and when doesn't he?) and then they grow sad again.

He wants to help her.

"The Digital World," and something in him coils with rage and glee and desire and he doesn't like it, it's too much like- "My friend's partner was hurt by something you created." Her voice is so gentle even though she's saying things that hurt. "And now, we aren't sure what he's doing. We're hoping you can fix it."

Ken stares at her. "I created something that could hurt people?"  _That's awful,_ he thinks. It's also impossible. He looks at his hands. "I didn't even know I could create things."

That's a little far, he realizes. He just didn't know he could be useful. Of course if he creates something, it does something bad. That would figure.

_How do you know it's bad? Maybe she just doesn't understand how beautiful it is._

Ken shakes his head to himself. No, anything that hurts a partner is bad.

Anything.

_You just keep telling yourself that._


	6. 5

"Do you think you can make your way home from here?"

Ken stares at her, puzzled. He looks around. "I can if I get to the train station."

His voice is so small, and it makes Hikari's heart hurt. This isn't the Kaiser. Or at least, it's not all of him. This is the part that knows the purpose of a Chosen Child, and knows what he should have been doing, and that he wasn't doing it.

But he's still the Kaiser in there somewhere. She can feel it. Even if it's not really him.

"I can walk you there," she offers. Tailmon stiffens in her arms. It's not part of the plan. He should still go home. He's a kid, like them.

"I'll come with!"

Daisuke's run in, not bothering to hide that he had been listening in. The difference between him and the others. Takeru-kun's face is a mixture of things. She isn't sure which she likes the least, but she doesn't confront him. Not yet. He'll find his way. If he doesn't… well, her brother might be able to help Matt there. He has more experience with angry blonds than she does.

"that'd be great, Daisuke-kun," she says when she sees Ken tense. She can't put her finger on what it is, but she knows these actions. Fear of being snapped at. "Wormmon has to come too, he'll be able to learn from Tailmon and Chibimon in how to behave on a train."

"Perhaps Chibimon would be a bad example," Tailmon mutters near her ear.

Chibimon pouts. "I like trains!"

Hikari giggles and Ken actually smiles. It was surreal.

But she's handled worse, so she leads Ken out the door before anyone can say no. Daisuke's running after her and soon they're out in the close-to-summer weather. Ken looks around, eyes wide. He mumbles to Wormmon and winces. He wants to touch his neck again, she can feel it. It's an angry red. He mumbles again and Wormmon shakes his head.

"Don't be silly, Ken-chan." How can the caterpillar just be okay? If anyone has suffered, it is this little creature, but it sounds so happy, she wonders. "Your parents won't be mad at you."

"Osamu-nii-san wouldn't get lost," Ken replies in a set little voice that reminds her of every time she made Taichi help her with a lost kitten.

"Your brother barely went outside, Ken."

Hikari glances at Daisuke, who is grumbling at his shoe. He's heard. She knows that look in his eyes. He glances at Taichi and gestures with his head. Taichi looks irritated but he steps back.

Have to love soccer players and their non-verbal communication.

They're off within minutes and Hikari feels Takeru's eyes on them the whole way out.

They are only halfway to the train station when Hikari hears her D-Terminal beep in her pocket. She pulls it out and flips it open. There's a new message. The contents make her ill. She shuts it, drawing Daisuke from his somewhat one-sided conversation with Ken about soccer (when did they become friends?).

"Hikari-chan?" He's looking too perceptive again.

Hikari smiles. "It's nothing important." She pretends the message isn't there.

" _I want to play with Takeru again!"_

So childish. So cute.

But that isn't Patamon.


	7. 6

The message keeps coming back.

Takeru keeps deleting it.

He barely pays attention in class. He barely does anything. His mother keeps asking where Patamon is and he doesn't have an answer. Because she's noticed, of course she has.

His dreams are chillier too and he can't place where cold starts or ends and the real world begins. He hears Patamon laughing in his dreams but his voice is too deep and the blond hair is too dark to be Angemon's but the eyes are the same so gentle, so cold-

More and more, he wakes and his floor is wet. His Digivice is always flashing.

Patamon wants him there, so he goes one day, when nobody might find him, when the pressure is somehow less.

As it happens, he sees Ken. Without the Kaiser armor, which mysteriously hasn't returned, he looks fragile and smaller than before. He's staring up at his own Dark Towers. From behind, Takeru can't see his expression, but he sees his shoulders shake.

It makes him see red and he  _hates_  it. Ken is an ordinary kid, but this is all Ken's fault. They were Ken's Spirals, he threw it and hit Patamon, made him that… monster.

So why is he  _crying_?

He stiffens suddenly and his eyes flicker to Takeru. A tiny smile flits over his face and Takeru feels like he's looking at his eight year old self. Wormmon watched Takeru with big eyes, almost pitying because he understands and it's just not fair.

"Hullo," Ken says. "You are…?"

He doesn't know their names. Of course he doesn't. As the Kaiser, he probably wouldn't have bothered to find out. It's a step forward that he is.

"Takeru."

Ken nods, and his expression doesn't change at all. "I hurt your partner."

Takeru blinks. He's said it. So simply, so calmly, even though he's trembling, even though his face is still wet.

"Not just him." Ken turns back to the Dark Tower. "I've hurt a lot, a lot of Digimon, haven't I? Wormmon told me I did."

Takeru feels his mouth go dry. He manages a nod.

Ken doesn't seem to be paying him too much attention though. "I don't know what he's talking about. I don't remember much of any of it… but I've stopped now, right? Now that I know, I can turn back and change." Fast, jerky words, desperation.

Takeru wants to say yes. Every fiber of his being is telling him that it's possible because really, the lines that Ken has crossed are under Devimon's but they are the most sacred and his Patamon is still suffering because of him and there's no way to turn that  _off._

He wants to say yes because maybe it's possible.

Then there's a quiet laugh. "Takeru wouldn't really know much about change. He's always been like this!"

Ken's expression tells him he doesn't need to turn around.


	8. 7

"Takeru!"

He does turn, he regrets it immediately, and he's faced with a man, a man with blue eyes and arms that could snap him like a twig. He never had that fear with Angemon before. He's never had that fear with his friends, but it's easy now. The wind lifts his hair and brings the scar on his face into full view. Takeru knows he should run, but his legs are rooted to the spot.

"Hi Takeru." The deep voice is layered with that childish innocence, the thing which he knew Patamon best for. But it's like curdled milk. That's what breaks the spell, and sends the chill down his spine.

Ken moves over. He's still shaking and as he steps in front of Takeru, Takeru can make out the angry red lines on his neck. "Why… why are you doing this?"

"I'm not  _doing_  anything," the Digimon says, all innocence. "But I will. You know that, don't you Ken? All you wanted was a world that acknowledged you. A world that listened to what  _you_ had to say." The man floats down from where he was framed by the moon, landing on the ground with a pleasant tapping sound. His bat and angel wings flap and make no wind. "You couldn't get that in the human world, no matter what you did. Not even getting rid of your own brother saw to that, now did it?"

Ken flinches. The creature with Angemon's voice smiles. "Oh yes, I know. When you put that thing on me, I heard  _everything_. And you know what? I kind of liked it." He steps forward. Ken steps back. This time, Takeru acts and drags Ken back with him. "It's why it's in me now, much easier to keep a hold of. Did you know those pretty bracelets can be used to find you? Shame you came back here. Now we all know where you are."

"Patamon, stop." Takeru channels his brother, channels the ice his brother uses with every fiber of his being. As he speaks, there is a low growling noise from the earth below. It's like a choir of rage. "This is wrong. We aren't supposed to hurt people like this."

"Yes we are." The blue eyes turn on him now. The demon licks his lips. "Piemon did it, would have been worse. But we sealed him away, didn't we Takeru? We killed Devimon together,  _didn't we Takeru_? He's bad, Takeru. He's evil. But I'll be good for you, Takeru, so we have to stop him. I'll give you the easy answer. See… look at his neck. It sure looks like it hurts, huh?"

Ken's fingers are crawling to it and Takeru grabs them. He doesn't knwow why, but he has to.

The demon laughs. "He's fighting it, Takeru. He's fighting the thing in there. But it'll come out. We're not all good, right? You're always so angry. You don't ever wanna say it but you're  _just so mad._ So let him go, Takeru. We take out the source of the bad being loose and he'll stay like this, all gentle and good forever. And I'll go back to normal too!"

Another step forward. The monster could snatch Ken. His hand is outstretched to do so.

"Okay, Takeru?" The words are honey sweet. "You trust me, right?"

Takeru's foot hits one of the televisions, nearly smashes it. He slips his D-3 out and before he can let go of Ken, they're gone.


	9. 8

They end up not in Takeru's home, but in Ken's. It's dark, the only light coming from his computer monitor. They're both sprawled on the floor, but Takeru can't bring himself to care. His eyes are fixed on the screen. His partner is still standing there. He's leaning towards the screen like he can somehow see them. For a moment, Takeru thinks he might be able to get through the Gate by himself. The way he's reaching makes his gloved fingers almost seem solid.

Then his partner draws back, chuckling a little. "I guess the chase is over for now. No fun." He smiles up at Takeru. "You've made your choice, takeru, and you didn't choose me, again." Takeru flinches. "That's probably good though. If you stay now, your mama will be worried." He takes another step back, but the smile still fills up the screen. He makes to turn away but then he pauses. "Ah, that's right! You've probably been wondering, what am I? I'm not Angemon, right?" One blue eye peers back at them. "I can't be. I'm just too cold! But I'm not Devimon either. I'm much better looking."

He spins once more and bows. "My name is Lucemon. I didn't know you had this much power in you, Takeru, but I guess I should have. Thanks! Say hi to Tailmon for me!"

The screen shuts off, covering them in darkness. They are both quiet, then Takeru whispers in something like awe, "I didn't know he was so dramatic."

Ken sputters out what is probably a giggle, but it's too close to a whimper for his taste. Wormmon clicks down and scuttles to the light switch. Takeru wishes he hadn't. The dark would have hid the way the cold had shuttered his face. He wants to know how Angemon - _Lucemon_ \- knows all of those things about Ken. Are they even true?

"Ken?" He shouldn't ask, he shouldn't, it's not right, not proper, but… but… Ken's staring at him, waiting. He knows what he'll be asked. Of course he does.

"Did you really, um..."

Yeah, how could he ask "did you kill your brother"? What kind of person asked that?

Ken's shoulders sag a little, which means he knows the question anyway. "I didn't stop it."

"It wasn't your fault, Ken-chan!" Wormmon's insistence is very soft and a little wary.

He shakes his head. "But this is. There's something wrong with me. Seeing that… seeing Lucemon made me  _happy_." He nibbles on his lip and looks up at Takeru with the fear that only a child can have. "What's  _wrong_  with me?"

Takeru feels sick to his stomach because it's like looking at himself when he couldn't find Patamon in Tokyo and he's not supposed to feel that sort of lurching concern right now.

He's spared from answering by a knock at the door. "Ken-chan?"

If possible, Ken's pale skin turns almost ghostly white. "Mama..."

Crap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look, I updated. Hi! all right, so lemme explain the thing. It probably would have been easier for me to just come out and tell you guys who Patamon actually became, but since Takeru wouldn't know that, I couldn't just do that without being super god narrator and that's honestly not my cup of tea. I let the story tell itself, somewhat. So that is why it has all been so confusing. Now the story is probably going to start falling together bit by bit because, hey, we have almost everything we need. Almost! Just one more thing. Or maybe two. Cheers!


	10. 9

9.

"Ken-chan, you could have just told me a friend was coming over instead of sneaking him in..."

Ken flushes and that face reminds Takeru of Yamato whenever Gabumon says something embarrassing. "I'm sorry, you all were asleep..."

Takeru bows his head. "I'm sorry for barging in on you like this, ma'am. Something came up at home. My mother knows I'm here." She had no idea but he would message her since he didn't have a house key. "Or, she knows I'm at a friend's house anyway. I didn't think I'd come all the way out here."

"I see. Well!" She claps her hands and her eyes are still a little moist. "Let me just get you a sleeping bag! You'll get to sleep in for a while, as tomorrow is your day off. Would you like breakfast?"

The thought of him being served breakfast in the middle of (former) enemy territory made him uncomfortable, but she looked so earnest. "I-I would appreciate that. Thank you..." He trailed off, seeing the woman bubble over.

"That's wonderful. Let me just get you a futon!"

He bows to her back. "S-Sorry for intruding!"

She bustled away and Takeru stared at her back. "She's… friendly."

"I worry her," Ken says in a soft voice. "And Dad… I'm all they have left now." He pauses and this one lasts a little longer, but not long enough for the mother to return and force the awkwardness away. "Sometimes, there is this voice. In my head. It talks in my voice and… maybe it's me and maybe I am as bad as it says..."

"Ken-chan..."

Wormmon's voice hurts.

"And, the proof of that Is the pain I caused you. So… please let me fix it." Ken looks, not at him, there's no way that's going to happen any time soon, but in his direction. "Maybe if you show me, you and your friends, where I was doing these things, maybe I can think of a way to reverse it."

"Reverse it?" Is there even a way? This is different from Agumon, where they could see the spiral. They can't see it, they don't even know if it's still there.

Ken nods. "Maybe there is something but I don't know. You all know what I've done and I don't remember anything from… from about..." He shivers suddenly and his blue eyes turn purple. "Not since Ryo-san left..."

For some reason, the name makes him feel sick. He is relieved to see Ken's mother return. He doesn't want to think about this anymore, not any of it.

Not even Patamon.


	11. 10

_"Lucemon?"_

Tailmon sounds positively nauseous. The other Digimon don't look much better, especially from the other side of the gate. Chibimon even drops his cookies.

"That bad?" Miyako's voice quakes a little, despite her best efforts. Her eyes are darting between Tailmon and Takeru. She avoids Ken's eyes and Takeru thinks Ken is doing the same. He can't blame them. However, there are, surprisingly, more important things.

"He's a Demon Lord, and the Seven Demon Lords are a bad sign to anyone you ask," Tailmon replies, scratching one ear. "They were all supposedly sealed behind the Gate of Sins during the great war thousands of cycles ago. Maybe even tens of thousands, the history's been eroded away. Vamdemon had a nice,  _beautiful-"_ she pauses to sneer. "-bookshelf about them. Together, and with the right evolution, they can be just as powerful as Apokarimon. They'd probably make the Dark Masters look like an untrained Greymon."

"They're based off of the Seven Deadly Sins, at least in terms of power," Poromon adds. His squeak of a voice is thoughtful, wary. "Lucemon is based on the sin of pride, as well as the human mythology of Lucifer."

Takeru feels his blood chill. He looks at Ken, who nods. He has no memory of it, but somehow, that fits.

"And you're saying that he has some of Ichijouji's memories somehow." Daisuke picks up the bag Chibimon dropped. His brown gaze looks at them like he can pull the things he wants to hear out of their heads.

"Feelings, more or less." Those were the first words Ken had spoken since they had arrived at Daisuke's home. The Kaiser would have been cocky or furious to be here, speaking like equals with his rivals, his enemies. Ken is not. He is just uncomfortable because of what he is, who he is. He is still the Kaiser. He still  _acted_. He just doesn't remember. "My feelings from the past. I'm not a good person, after all."

"We have to work to be good," Hikari says and her voice is softer than his. It cuts through the rising tension of 'what do we do with this person who committed evil and is suddenly not straightforward evil' and replaces it with a grim reminder to them that they are not innocent people either.

Just like Lucemon had said to Takeru himself.

"It was likely Falldown Mode," Tailmon muses, eventually breaking the silence. Her voice is monotone, speaking from a time only a few steps away from her. "He is strongest of the Demon Lords, intent on both loving the world and desiring its end. He will destroy the universe and create a new one, as per his sentiments of revolution against the god of our world."

"Digimon… have a god?" Iori is broken from his pensive thoughts. The humans are all staring at Tailmon now, who shrinks back against Hikari's chest with irritation. She puffs up, hackles rising for a moment. Then she calms.

"We do," Chibimon says suddenly and now everyone looks at him because they never expected him to say something like that. "We have the Creators, who are the Original two, and we have our God, Yggdrasil, who moderates our world. They and Homeostasis maintain the balance however they can."

Daisuke blinks at his Chibimon, who munches a cookie. "Chibimon?"

"We met, once," Chibimon says with a bright grin. "Before I was sent to meet Daisuke! The god was very sad at the time. There were a lot of things happening. They wanted to meet you, Ken!"

Takeru feels like his eyes are ping pong balls. Ken looks suitably terrified. "W-What…?"

"But..." Chibimon swallows chocolate, wiping his face with his flippers. "I think you got hurt… or something. I dunno. It was so long ago that my head hurts to think of it. But they had something important for me to do and I met them once. They met Hikari-chan once too, didn't they?"

Takeru is suddenly, vividly reminded of the vision of being scanned, of Hikari-san's strange power, and the battles in the middle of Hikarigaoka.

The newer children look confused and Takeru opens his mouth to explain. Before he can however, Hikari sags in her seat and hits the floor.


	12. 11

Tailmon, fortunately, is a cat. Therefore she rights herself with ease, going to cradle Hikari's head before it hits the floor.

The others, however, lack such composure. That said, Iori takes to the task with ease, lifting Hikari's head carefully with his hands and placing a pillow beneath it. Sweat pours in rivulets down her face. Takeru swallows a snarl of frustrated worry and goes to her. Daisuke is right after him, Miyako going to look for a first aid kid and returning in seconds. He looks to Ken, who doesn't seem to know where to stand, and has resorted to hugging Wormmon instead of making things worse.

Is it his imagination, or is there a strange gleam in the other boy's eyes?

It fades in seconds and Ken kneels with them, looking strangely frantic.

"What's going on-" Daisuke starts.

Then Hikari's eyes snap open and their vision is covered in white.

Takeru thinks of the vision of Hikarigaoka from above, and wishes so fervently for Patamon. He is almost glad he won't show up.

They don't float over a cityscape, however. Instead they float over a desert. The wind blows and whips harmlessly through them and Takeru glances everyone over. Hikari is moving to her feet, loose limbed and impassive eyes. No, it's not Hikari. Tailmon's tail lashes as she stands up, moving by Takeru and then back to Hikari. Her eyes are worried.

"You again," Takeru says. He thinks of Pinnochimon's forest, of the horrible fighting, and when they had needed something to quell them the most, here she had come, a peacemaker. Honestly that could sum up Hikari as a whole, couldn't it?

Hikari smiles, and the other kids look so bewildered. The smile doesn't look quite right to him either. "Indeed. It took some time, we have less influence here, but with your Digimon around, I eventually found my way. I apologize, but there's something you need to see."

"Hikari-san," Iori croaks, puzzled. He manages to beat Daisuke, who is currently slack-jawed.

Takeru answers before she can. "Three years ago, Hikari-chan was possessed by a strange entity. It showed us our beginning as Chosen, what changed our lives, and what made us so necessary." He lifts his head. "Are you going to do the same thing now?"

Hikari shakes her head and points to the distance. "Not your beginning, I'm afraid. Not theirs. Theirs they will find an answer to. But of another. For Patamon's sake, you need to know this."

The area warps and a large crystal begins to shimmer into view. Something writhes inside of it, and Takeru thinks if it had a voice, he would hear it screaming. No, wait… He squints, attempting to look closer.

He's wrong. That creature is laughing, its death throes thankfully going unheard.

"Moon-Millenniummon." Hikari's quiet voice is grim. "Capable of traversing time and space, capable of many great atrocities. Many he committed." She glances at Chibimon. "Can you recall?"

Chibimon shifts in Daisuke's arms before nodding. "How could I forget?" His high squeak twists with anger. "Can't ever forget someone like that! Even if I forget everything else, not  _him_."

Daisuke looks suitably worried. "Chibimon?" He lifts him up. "Dude, what's the matter?"

"He's bad, Daisuke," Chibimon says simply, ruby red eyes still unhappy. "He ruined what made him strong. He ruined what made him okay. He hurt the most precious person to him. That's not okay, Daisuke. Ken helped us fight him and then… then he got hurt. I remember that much now."

Hikari nods slowly, noting Takeru wincing in pain. "You're starting to recall."

"There was a tournament," Takeru mutters, voice hazy. "What does this have to do with Patamon?"

"Everything."

Ken's finally spoke. His soft voice now has the familiar and unfamiliar edge of the Kaiser. Yet it's twisted now, twisted by something so much older. They look at him. Wormmon is scuttling off of his arm.

"Remember now, Chibimon?" Ken smiles at the little Digimon and Chibimon tenses. "You fought me, and Ken tried to take away what was mind. You see how unforgiveable that is, don't you?" He looks over at Hikari. "Hello, Homeostasis. It has been years, hasn't it?"

"Millenniummon." Hikari's calm ripples. "Isn't this a surprise."

Takeru feels ready to vomit.


	13. 12

"You didn't think I could stay away, did you?"

Ken's voice is oily, if detached from the mouth he's speaking with. With that smirk, it's an awfully frightening combination. It's not the little boy playing king, it's the monster wearing his face and it knows their fear. Hikari doesn't tense as she should and it's clear from this thing's (because it's not human on the inside now) that this  _disappoints_ him. Though no one is exactly sure what this is.

"No, unfortunately," Hikari says, back to the patient calm again. "You always have been too greedy for your own good. You ought to have stayed a Dark Master and let yourself be recreated. You would have been welcomed. This is neverending hell for you."

"Be recreated and bred for a force of pure  _good?_ " Ken sneers and it's the Kaiser's sneer all right. "Only allowed to have who is rightfully mine when the time is right. You can't possibly understand how droll that is." He levels a smile at Takeru, who shifts back in a feeling of curdled fear. It's like Lucemon is looking at him and it makes him more ill than it should. Then he looks at Chibimon, who only snarls, a high pitched noise that is somehow terrifying in its own right. "Don't you hate that, little thing?"

"It's called patience," Chibimon snaps. "All of us have it! We cared enough to wait and wait and fight and you just wanted everything immediately! And you hurt him like that! You didn't deserve him!"

"Well, I got him in the end, I'm afraid." A small laugh. "All mine, I can feel it even in this feeble insect's body. Do you know how much Ken misses him? If you had made him yours, this boy would have been fine."

Chibimon shakes his head. Perhaps Chibimon is a lot wiser than they ever gave him credit for, for he knows it's not that simple. "Daisuke is my partner! Ryo is my friend… and you…" He trembles. "You tried to force him to be yours! You tried to make him the way you wanted him and that's not what a Digimon partner does! A human doesn't do it either! Right Wormmon?"

Wormmon starts and looks up at Chibimon. Takeru feels his legs shake. It's like looking at Tokomon when he turned his back on him, believing PicoDevimon over his partner's honesty. It must have been similar for him, supporting Ken's plans even though he didn't want to, trying to care about him and help him even when he was so fed up, protecting him even though they had just argued.

If Wormmon is like Patamon, and trying to convince Ken to change what he's doing, is Patamon doing the same? Even under the whims of that Spiral, under the influence of this Millenniummon? (The Digimon he forgot, the person he shouldn't have forgotten but… why did he?) But what does he want?

Wormmon swallows. "Ken-chan… because of you, and because of himself, he tried to force me to change… to become stronger, but eventually he gave up. But you… you never gave up and lets me stay as I am even if he doesn't like it. You always pushed Ryo into situations that would force him to fight you, force him to hurt you, force him to kill you! Didn't you ever think that was wrong?"

"How could it be wrong," Millenniummon's earnest puzzlement is so damning somehow. "When I have achieved everything I could ever desire?"

"Except this world." Hikari's voice is completely unaltered by the clear emotional upheaval. "You've never desired this world as much as you've desired him. Do you now?"

Millenniummon smiles. "Yes. Like you've said, I'm  _greedy_."

"And proud," Chibimon mutters.

"As I should be, as a ruler of time and space."


	14. 13

"You can't rule time and space using Ichijouji's body!" Daisuke has picked himself back up, and remarkably fast too. Then again, since MetalGreymon, Daisuke has changed. The other Digimon have started to bristle. The trouble is they can't attack. If they attack, they might hurt Ken and anyone can tell that this thing won't care to defend its host. It wouldn't take over in the first place if it cared.

"Why ever not?" Millenniummon asks with a smile. "I was doing so well until you all showed up. There's a reason Ultimates are so rare in our world. I was hoping I wouldn't have to show you that reason" e chuckles. "But you're quite right, how astute of you. It would kill Ichijouji if I pushed him much more than this, and you would have to interfere, wouldn't you Homeostasis?" The smile turns to a sneer.

Hikari lifts her hand. "Indeed we would."

The monster steps back with a chuckle. "Don't be so hasty. I know he needs to wake." He has yet to look afraid.

"Why?" Takeru has finally found his words, his  _anger_  rising up like the waves of the sea. "Why did you do that to Patamon? If you're the one who has been controlling Ichijouji-kun this whole time,  _why_  did you put a spiral on Patamon?"

Millenniummon pauses, apparently actually having to think about it. "Well, I was going to use the girl, you see. The eight of you were used to harm my Ryo, to make him harm me. The face ripples into the sweetest smile. "I thought it would be, well, some sort of poetic justice, if that was turned on you."

Then Ken collapses, and the illusion shatters.

They are back in the bedroom. Hikari is sitting on the bed, head in her hands.

The room is silent, unable to move as Wormmon crawls back to Ken, his eyes shining with tears.

"I'm sorry, Ken-chan," he wails. "I'm so sorry."

 _What are you sorry for?_  Takeru can't help but think.  _It's not your fault._

From what few memories he has, it's theirs.


	15. 14

The Digital World's soil feels foreign without Patamon. The air itches beneath his clothes. He wants to cry out and run. His limbs are heavy. He knows though.

Patamon -Lucemon- is near. He hadn't realized it until now, that once you had a partner, there was a way to sense them. In a vague sense, he had used it before. It was how he had known in Shibuya that his Patamon was alive.

It was how he knew now.

He doesn't know what he is going to do when he sees him. He doesn't know what is going to happen when they find this adult level with the power of the ultimate, the power that can unbalance the worlds because that is just how dangerous ultimate levels are. That is why the Dark Masters had to be killed.

His Lucemon is worse because he can only grow stronger.

Ken struggles behind him, Wormmon in his arms, his gaze still foggy from a few days past when Millenniummon possessed him. He had believed them and looked away when they had told him him about it. He hasn't spoken much since, neither has Wormmon and there is something horribly wrong. He's always been quiet, as far as they can tell. Now he just seems drained.

What are they going to do? The only Ultimates can't fight anymore. Takeru wants to have hope, he believes and believes that they will somehow get through to Patamon, to the friend inside that monster's head. But he doesn't know how and that's the issue of Hope. He, now more than ever, wishes someone had the Crest of Realism. They could think of a plan, where he can't.

For now, all they have is to find Lucemon.

"Takeru!"

The voice, the loving ache in it, he knows it so well. But the sadistic tremble that makes it claw to rip out his eardrums, that isn't him.

"I see you've brought the Kaiser."

His voice is below them, and below the Chosen is an army of snarling and drooling masses of anger and suffering. Ken swallows.

Takeru shakes his head. "We've brought Ken."

Lucemon laughs, the sound almost sorrowful. "It's the same thing, really."

Maybe it is. But maybe it isn't too. All that matters now is that they fight, and they win. Even if Patamon doesn't.

That's what he would want, right?


	16. 15

For a few moments, the air is still. Then Ken puts Wormmon down, the insect not even moving far enough or looking afraid. He stays by Ken's foot instead. His young face looks solemnly down at the crowd, then up at Lucemon. "Does this make you happy?" Ken asks.

"I'm always happy to make the world a better place," the angel says sweetly, smiling down at him.

Ken shivers but braces himself. "Would killing me accomplish that?"

"It could." Lucemon sounds like just thinking about it makes him giddy.

"But what if it doesn't?" Takeru steps forward. "What if it just makes everything worse? What if it doesn't get rid of the anger and hate that everybody is feeling right now?"

Lucemon pauses. Had he not thought of that? Did Millenniummon, the Dark Seed, make someone so single minded? Then he shrugs. "Then we start with you and your friends, Takeru."

Takeru shivers then. "Sorry, Patamon," he says softly. "We're not going to let that happen."

"How?" It's the certainty that steadies Takeru's stance. Hope is in that digimon's face, just like it always is.

Takeru holds up his Digivice. "The only way we can."

From a distant, painful part of himself, Takeru digs up hope. He digs deep, to where HolyAngemon sleeps, to where the Crest was locked up. It starts to rise up, prompted by the poking fingers of his soul. He digs and yanks and believes in the Patamon who has always saved him.

Weakly, desperately, his Digivice starts to glow.

Lucemon begins to howl.

No one is prepared for the strike of the Digimon below.


	17. 16

The cliff shakes and the roars seem closer now, both those of his own partner and the desperate hunger of the Digimon below. Takeru wants to dig his heels in, because the connection has been opened and he can't risk breaking it, but at the comforting thrum of the device in his hands, he turns and bolts. He doesn't see Lucemon fall, but he hears him scream, so many emotions in his voice and most of them _pain_. He turns and bolts back to the cliff and something rushes for his nose.

Ken yanks him back and the attack soars over the tops of their heads. "Are you okay?"

"Forget me!" He leans over the cliff. "Patamon!"

No answer.

"Patamon!" he shouts again.

Something roars and lunges for him again. He is pulled aside, Miyako's hand tight on his wrist as she's struggling to hold him up. They land and reluctantly he moves in behind her. They almost take off when Takeru notices Ken, still stumbling away. He clutches Wormmon like his friend can somehow protect him. Then, paws start to reach the cliff edge, making their way over. Halsemon fires and knocks them aside. Miyako is shaking, barely able to grip onto her partner's neck.

"Where's Hikari-chan?" takeru shouts over the wind of them trying to move, to get in front of the running child. Ken clearly wants to stay, judging by the way his feet drag, to stand up for what he is and take his blows. But Wormmon doesn't deserve them, so he shouldn't be hit. Is that what he thinks?

"Earth," Miyako calls back. "I don't know why. She should be here by now!"

She should be, yes. She should be, but for what? To watch them all die? Or to stop it?

The earth begins to groan, and as it shudders, the sounds of the monsters turn to screams. They stop advancing.

The air is suddenly very cold and salty.

Color begins to bleed away.

Digmon pops up and makes to pull Ken to safety. But the monochrome world is swallowing them. It's too late.

Takeru looks at his Digivice, and its screen is pitch-black.


	18. 17

Hikari exhales again, this one heavier than the last. She stands at the edge of the water, staring out at the horizon. Tailmon loops about her legs, twining with them as if to trip her. She isn't though; Hikari knows this is just her way of trying to be reassuring.

She's not sure it's helping.

She looks at her Digivice. The D-3 looks harmless. She knows better than to think that. She straightens to her full height and shuts her eyes. The sea sways before her as Tailmon watches. The salty smell begins to rot.

She doesn't want to do this. She doesn't want to go. She didn't want to go. For Takeru, though, for her friends, she would.

She tries to recall it, the grayness of the water, the chill of the air and the fear, thick and cold. She thinks until it seems painful. She smiles at nothing and shivers to herself. Reflexively, Hikari rubs at her arms. When she opened her eyes, the sand beneath her shoes was grey.

The air slurps around her, and Hikari moves closer to the water. "Excuse me," she called. "Could you help me?" She doesn't know what to call him, the god of the monsters here, but it seems irrelevant, since no one answers. She calls again, and the water bubbles. What good would it do to bring him here, anyway? She isn't sure. However, it is something like a last resort. So she will use what she has, no matter how much she shakes.

"Please!" She still isn't sure how she arrived here, but she had believed that she could and for the worlds that may have been enough. "Please help me."

The voice answers, a steady thrum of gurgles that form words, with a single word. **"Why?"**

Hikari inhales. She doesn't look down at Tailmon as she exhales. Summoning all of her big brother's courage, she tells him why.


	19. 18

And in that moment, Takeru _remembers_.

Ken screams near his head, screams and howls to the dead and the living. All Takeru can hear is the howling of Digimon that died, the oddly stoic face of a baby-faced blue eyed boy. His cool face as he beats their Digimon, stopping within a centimeter of murder. The horror on his own face is clear. His own legs shaking as he learns something, a horrible thing.

They must kill each other. They must hurt each other. That is the way Ryo lives.

Did Ryo fail, perhaps? Did he lose despite being trained to win? Did he turn away from the final battle? How could he? Why?

Because he had been betrayed by them, that's why. After he had saved them. Then they had forgotten. But why?

No, if he had lost, if he had lost, then Millenniummon would be here in whatever form he had taken. So… why?

What was happening? He looks at Ken, whose neck was glowing, whose eyes were glowing blankly. He made no sound now as the ocean whirlpool sucked him in, dragged them all down. A ghostly claw strikes his heart and Lucemon screams.

Then, a soft, gentle voice touches their ears. "Gotcha."

Nefertimon catches them both as Halsemon soars down to the ground, barely managing to catch up. Nearby, Lucemon was writhing. The other Digimon, still under the control of the rings, are squirming and hissing as they try to swim to shore. In the clouds, a silhouette, hideous and red-eyed, looms into view. But it moves no closer.

Takeru swears he hears Millenniummon laugh, even as Lucemon shrivels and shrieks. He hopes he's imagining it.


	20. 19

The Master of the Sea is wholly fickle. The longer she stands at the edge of the water, the more Hikari recognizes this. And somewhere in her soul is a content emotion recognizing of this fact. She is feeling less afraid the longer she stands here. At least, of him. Of the creatures falling inside the world, it is clearly different.

 _ **"Demon Lord,"** _ whispers the gurgling water, speaking in the thousands of voices of shipwrecked sailors, sirens without prey, the steady water taking their air. "Oh you are an interesting child. This is good payment."

The Master of the Dark Sea is fickle. He goes along with her idea because he is curious and just as quickly could take her away for his own, whatever that would entail. For his own reasons, he doesn't.

She hears the cries and the screams, but she doesn't turn. It will break the spell. It will break the pink light turning red and foamy like the sea. It will break the litany of howls. She is the light. Light cannot be caged.

Hope will not allow it.

She hopes Takeru remembers that


	21. 20

They are on wet sand, wet and grey and cold. He hadn't noticed the last time he was here but there he was. They're all there. Even Daisuke, who had been so far back, observing, only moments before, is now there, and not looking happy about it either.

The Digimon who had been so hostile, are now howling to the heavens, their pain ricocheting off of the sand. None of them are as loud as Lucemon, whose desperate wails are accompanied by bursts of red light. Takeru is close enough to see the Dark Spiral around his neck. He shrinks from a man to a little boy with tattered wings. What could have been a toga is streaked red. He raises his head and stares at Takeru with those too-same blue eyes. The plea was there, unmistakable, as visible as the reddish-black spiral on his throat.

Ken, very suddenly laughs. His Digivice emits a dark energy. It is most certainly nothing warm and bright. In fact, the skin-crawl sensation is very familiar. Millenniummon is jubilant.

"Lucemon," he whispers, as the angel writhes, the Evil Spiral so vivid on his pale skin. "I have found your purpose." He presses a button on Ken's black Digivice and the air wails with pain. "Evolve, evolve into the true mmonster I know you can become."

Lucemon screams and screams rage and laughter until it becomes an endless shriek of battle rage.

"Chimaeramon."


	22. 21

It indeed is a chimaera, a monster of monsters the Chosen have seen or fought. All the strong ones, all the ones they knew somehow. So much data, and such a very loud scream. Ken laughs until the sound eventually turns to heaving sobs. Then he is simply screaming through the blood falling in rivulets down his neck.

The Digimon lunges for the Chosen. They scatter and the little Armor levels counterattack. All Takeru can hear is Patamon crying.

The others are thrown aside like rag dolls. Digmon tries to fire his drills. They hit the sand and hiss out of existence.

Fladramon, however, is not deterred. "Ryo helped us beat your face in once Millenniummon," he shouts, voice strong and even despite the quaking of pain in his knees. "I'm with Daisuke, so we can do it again!"

But it's Patamon, Takeru thinks. Millenniummon is using Patamon.

That doesn't matter if they can't stop him, can't keep him here.

The chimaera laughs long and loud. "I'm certain you'll try. But not before I bring him back to me. My partner, my friend." The haunting eyes lock on Takeru. "Unless you want to take his place."

"This is all I've ever wanted after all, Takeru."


	23. 22

_"How?"_

This was the Kaiser. The boy who had thought himself Chosen over all, and hadn't been _wrong_ , but also hadn't been right. Standing here, it occurs to all of them, even to Miyako above them, that he has no idea of what it meant, or maybe never had.

Well, none of them really did once you laid it out. Not even Takeru and Hikari, and they had been doing this for so long.

"No idea," Takeru finally says, and he's smiling and he doesn't know _why_ but it feels rather good tobe honest. "We didn't get this far on skill. We got this far on courage and hope and faith and all of those things that we got picked for. We have ideas sometimes, sure, but right now," He gestures to the monster over their heads and the Digimon struggling to their feet. "All we have is that Patamon is dangerous and we need..." He swallows. "We need to make sure he can't cause more damage than he is to this world, any world." He looks around as if just realizing where they are. "Hikari-chan..." he turns to her. "Why are we here?"

 _ **'Because she offered me an interesting spectacle, boy.'**_ The voice booms in their heads and is still a whisper. His mind could not fathom it. **_'This place is a settlement for the desires of the heart. As she is learning. As perhaps you will someday come to grasp. If we live through another millennial specter.'_**

Hikari nods her acquiescence. He looks at her and thinks of Vamdemon and how defiant she had. Instantly defiant when he had faced his demon and shown fear. Not for the first time, he wonders how she can say she isn't brave?

"Ichijouji-kun," she says softly. "Trust us. And we'll trust you."


	24. 23

Oh just make the decision for all of them. No one's possibly wary of him or anything.

But really what choice do they have? Miyako alights down with Iori and they huddle in a sand dune as the Digimon try to fight back. Tailmon is the only defense they currently have close enough to them. Wormmon has never evolved. Ken is clutching to him too tight for anyone to ask him to. But the little caterpillar lifts his head and says, "Ken-chan is here because he is meant to be very kind. And if all of us can be that way, maybe we can save Patamon." His little reedy voice is uncertain, and Ken's eyes are watering again.

But Takeru thinks he understands. "Everyone's traits are ours," he says, and thinks of Apokarimon. "And our traits belong to everyone."

At these words something begins to glow in his chest. Something soft and warm that he had left behind to heal. Hikari's hands close over his. Then Miyako's. Then Iori's. Then Daisuke, who holds his hand out to Ken.

Ken hesitates, shivers at a chill. Then he joins them. And a glow engulfs them and the Digimon who have hit the sand. Even Wormmon shines.

The master of the sea chuckles fondly.


	25. 24

Chimaeramon tries to flee from the light. The problem is that the portal has closed and there's nowhere for any of the monsters to go. The monster within the Ocean only watches, mild interest in his face.

The partners, their Digimon, all rise. It almost seems comical, the way their bodies shift and evolve into golden monsters that repel everything the Kaiser stands for, and here he is, helping them do it.

There's a word for this.

Chimaeramon fires a burst of heat at them and they balk at first, only for lazy grey waves of water to wipe it away. The former V-mon takes off, punching and kicking and firing missiles and while they make dents it isn't enough. The small fry are running but the main villain is still going strong.

The Digimon move, at an advantages but claws swipe and punch and the water is harder than it looks. They get up again. Ken's hand turns white on top of theirs, tense with fear. Even now his neck bleeds.

Takeru thinks for a moment, of File Island. He looks at his Digivice.

"Help me," he says to the others. Takeru lifts his Digivice up high.

His partner screams his name. Millenniummon howls rage.

They sound so alike.

The Digimon don't waste time. Neither does the monster of the Ocean. A single tentacle coils around its neck and yanks. Their partners attack. Takeru doesn't waver as sweat drips down his brow and his heart pounds in his ears. _Just a little more,_ he thinks. _Just a little more._

He can do this. He's scared but he has to do it.

His Digivice burns white-hot. He whimpers in pain as the light blinds him, blinds them all.


	26. 25

"Takeru-kun!"

His head aches. Someone is shaking his shoulder. He opens his eyes when he doesn't want to.

He sees dark sky, grey sand. The Digimon are little more than babies curled on the ground. He rolls over and sits up. Hikari looks into his face, holding a familiar striped egg. She holds it out to him and he takes it into trembling arms. It shocks him and he looks to see smoke coming from his Digivice. Then the screen turns red and it laughs.

_'I suppose this round goes to you, Chosen Children.'_

Takeru, feeling nauseous, looks around. This is only the beginning.


End file.
